What is it like to live in war?

Everything in life has it’s own advantages and disadvantages. When it comes to war on Gaza, a 360 square kilometers piece of land with the highest population density in the world, it is different. Every bomb that is dropped costs, whether is costs human lives or destroys homes that people worked their entire life to build. Now they have to work the rest of their lives trying to rebuild what they had of memories in these homes.

Try to imagine receiving a phone-call telling you to evacuate your home in 3 minutes because it’s going to get bombed. Try to imagine leaving all the memories behind Memories of pain and joy alike. How would if feel?

A miracle happened in Gaza in which a baby was rescued from a womb of a dead mother. Ironically the miracle didn’t last for long as if the baby refused to be away from her mother. A week after her birth, the baby died because of the lack of electricity.

The baby made it through the shelling that killed her mother, but couldn’t make it due to electricity cut that was needed to resuscitate her. What an irony!

Let’s talk about electricity…. Hi….. Here… Sorry, electricity just went off and it might return. Don’t worry. Here’s a small fact, Gaza’s only power-plant has been completely destroyed by the Israeli air-force shelling and it requires about a year to be ready to work again.

Palestinians are paying a remarkable price of their blood and belongings due to the silence of the Arab nations and the world’s ignorance of the massacres taking place on the ground in Gaza.

In Shaja’eya, one of the largest and oldest neighborhoods in eastern Gaza, a dead family was witnessed holding each others hands as if they knew their fate. Also in Khuza’a, a small village east of Khan Yunis in the south, around 13 children were shot by Israeli snipers.

Sadly, the media pictures Hamas throwing rockets back as this is an equal war.

Where are the safe places now in Gaza? Well, Shaja’eya, Khuza’a, and probably Rafah. Why are they safe? Simple, because there is nothing left there to be bombed.

Shaja’eya witnessed the immigration of 90,000 humans from their own homes. Shaja’eya buried 72 martyrs and cried over 3,700 homes that were completely destroyed. Still some people refuse to give up. They either died, got injured, or were lucky to survive.

This is a story about humans who waited more than 10 years to have a child. They were lately blessed with one who, sadly, along with three others were killed while they were playing on the beach. Now, his parents lie in pain.

Ban Ki Moon, the UN Secretary General and John Kerry the US Secretary of State have announced a 72 hours ceasefire for the sake of humanity. Unfortunately, a massacre in Rafah, south of Gaza Strip, took place during the ceasefire while people were shopping for their needs. It is painful how these people lost their lives. More than 100 martyrs were piled up in refrigerators waiting to get buried instead of them piling up their groceries in their homes.

Although the war has many disadvantages, these are some advantages. First, families bond as they sit together in their unsafe hiding place talking to each other and knowing more about each other, while relatives from outside call to check on their families. And last, ironically, with the destruction of the power plant, Gaza somehow became eco-friendly, though I had hoped for this to happen without a war.

Now after you have seen the costs ( disadvantages ) and advantages, think!